Top 5 tips on welcoming new staff

Whenever you welcome a new team member on board it can be exciting, nerve-wracking and stressful for all parties involved. But follow these 5 tips and your induction of new staff will start you off on the right foot and make for a much easier experience.

Lighten Up The Paperwork

Just with all new jobs there is going to be some “welcome pack” paperwork which needs to be done. But keep in mind, you are dealing with a person, not just a mindless machine. While all businesses need to take care of the important things like pay, taxes, emergency contacts, don’t forget they are more than just that.

Consider adding “personal” items into the on boarding,
questions which will help you learn more about who they are, which will allow
you and the rest of your team connect with them more.

Ask questions such as:

How do you take your Coffee/Tea?

Chocolate or vanilla cake?

Favourite Fruit?

Do you have any pets? (If yes tell us more!)

Favourite Sandwich

Any Dietary restrictions?

If you can build a personal profile about your team members you will be able to connect with them better, show a genuine appreciation for them and their work.

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Make Time For Them!

This is something we see and hear far too often. The first
day comes along and it doesn’t seem like anyone has the time to spend with the
new team member. You could be asking them to give you 40hrs of their week, for
an unspecified duration over time, yet you can’t schedule an hour or two for
them? This is how you start off on the wrong foot.

Schedule time to ensure your new, amazing, team member is
welcomed properly. They get introduced to relevant people, get a full tour of
the work place and anything relevant for the workplace. If you aren’t sure
about how to approach this, take notes of what you do, where you go and what
habits you have in your day to day movements, then build a site tour around
that.

If you plan to give them a “buddy” or someone else to show
them around, make sure that person knows when this will happen to ensure they
have scheduled it into their day. Have them arrange their day and workload knowing
they will have to stop for a bit to help welcome someone new.

The last thing you want is to make your new team member feel that they are a burden and a waste of time. If you give them a little of your time, they will give you more time down the line.

You’re the boss, you should know the in’s and out’s of their
job. With that information you should know who they will work with and how.
Make the time as you show them around/have them shown around and introduce them
to the people they will be working with.

Big tip-Introduce them to pay role/accounts!! This is often a massive overlooked relationship and can be a scary division to approach in the event of is pay concerns.

Group Introduction

Most businesses have coffee breaks, or snack breaks. Take advantage of this time and introduce them to the positive workplace they have just joined.

Have the team stop working, drop the “shop talk” and just
talk about who they all are. Show this new team member how you know things
about your other team members and that you genuinely care about them. Not to
mention it’s just great way to build general morale and sense of community.

End Of Day Check Up

While doing your introduction and site tour, remind this new stellar team member that you want them back in your office at a certain time, just before end of day. That way you can see how they are doing, find out if they have any questions from the day, make sure they are prepared moving forward to the next day

If there are any issues which have arisen during the day,
this is your chance to address them and rectify before moving forward in this
working relationship.

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Free Bonus Tip

Follow Through

So you have a new team member, you know some personal
details about them but what do you do with that information? Add their birthday
to your calendar along with their preferred flavour of cake (luckily your
welcome pack included this question). Plan to add their favourite fruit to the
communal fruit bowl, surprise people with their favourite coffee just because.

Remember the more you can put your team at ease, make them feel welcomed and appreciated they will happily give you more than you expected.

Take the time and review how you induct new staff, assess
how you interact with the team on the first day and how you follow through with
building that relationship as time moves on.

If you can develop your team, foster a strong sense of community, build a happy and motivated workforce from day 1, there is nothing you can't accomplish with them by your side